preview

Violence In John J. Collins's Does The Bible Justify Violence?

Good Essays

Immitation is a trait of humans starting at a young age and continuing up through adulthood. It is a natural response leading to a greater understanding of one’s surroundings and societal standing. Nonetheless, it is often a source of great debate due to the justification it provides for pursuing actions that stray from the ethical. Therefore, frequently literature that incorporates uncertain content is banned or marked as to prevent the allocation of such ideas to be imitated by children or unintentional readers. School systems have neglected to include in their curiculum books that advocate for violence, parents do not search out books with violent notions for their children to read, and our government has set standards and punishments to discourage violent actions in citizens. However, perhaps we have been looking to the wrong sources for such vehement encourages, perhaps a much more widespread and unassuming source exists. In John J. Collins book, Does the Bible Justify Violence?, he delves into the controversy over religious text that …show more content…

One distinction not mentioned is the reference to historical features allocated to the setting of the Bible’s stories. Coming with the passage of time arrives different societal norms; therefore, it is important to put historical context into play when examining the violence in the Bible. It is well known that earlier time periods were subjected to more extreme forms of violence as a part of everyday life and culture. Hence, the violence, specifically the ban, was not an uncommon feature or reality to the people represented by the Bible. Thus, one can question whether the violence set forth in the Bible should be ridiculed as severely due to its origin stemming from such a harsh time in human history. If John Collins had referenced this contention, his argument could have been made

Get Access